Tax Analysts

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237073182
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Falls Church, VA, USA
Phone
7035334400
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$48,134,055
Expenses
$36,756,588
Assets
$88,996,650
Liabilities
$20,036,205

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

25 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Cara Griffith (Director, President/CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • Cara Griffith (Director, President/CEO): $624,794 total reported compensation
  • Jeremy Scott (Chief Operating Officer): $408,314 total reported compensation
  • Carl Walker (Chief Financial Officer): $344,143 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Tax Analysts is dedicated to fostering open and informed debate about taxation to help educate all taxpayers and to enhance tax administration and policy. Tax Analysts provides unbiased informationabout tax policy through its in-depth news and analysis.Additionally, the organization serves as a forum for even-handed debate and discussion by sponsoring tax policy discussion events by other groups, and through speaking engagements conducted by its subject matter tax authorities.

What it reported doing in 2024

Through the organization's print publications and online content, Tax Analysts provides tax practitioners, tax administrators, academics and all taxpayers with the most up-to-date, technically accurate, and non-biased tax news, commentary and analysis. They also participate with tax subject matter experts at events the organization sponsors. Tax Analysts also performs a very important public watchdog function by engaging in strong and fair investigative journalism and, when needed pursuing legal action under the Freedom of Information Act to ensure that transparency exists in the administration of tax policy at the federal and state levels.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 95% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 63
  • Transparency & Controls: 57
  • Accountability: 96
  • Sustainability: 69
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 68.4%; rating input score 68
  • Program expense ratio: 76.1%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 23.6%; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.42; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.23; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10.3%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.7% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.9% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.6% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 68.4% of revenue deployed · 76.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 14 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $28M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $625K · 25 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $644K reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 34 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes foreign activity and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 12 filed money-flow records
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 19/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 55/100.